


The Old Lady on the South Side of Town

by LumianaKatenke



Category: Original Work
Genre: My Own Folktale, Short and Just For Fun and Writing Practice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 00:41:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20023687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LumianaKatenke/pseuds/LumianaKatenke
Summary: This is just a little folktale I made up to help practice my writing and for fun, don't worry I'm working on my other things too.





	The Old Lady on the South Side of Town

If you want a good household item, like a plunger or a duster, a new mop or broom, that kind of thing, but you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on a corporate one that’ll just become useless in a few months, maybe a year or two if you’re lucky or you paid with your soul for a really nice one, then go to the south side of town. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a village or a city, just go to the south side and look for a small and plain looking house with a pretty little garden with flowers that seem to bloom all year round. They don’t actually do that, but it’s nice to pretend now isn’t it?

Walk up the neat little stone path to the door and knock politely, a little old lady will answer with a kindly smile, you’ll never be able to remember what she looks like aside from that, so don’t bother trying to. Ask her politely if she has the item you seek for sale and if she says yes, follow her inside. If she says no, thank her for her time and leave, do not try to demand to have it or ask to go inside, she does not like unwanted guests. Once you are inside, she will ask if you would like lemonade, accept a glass even if you aren’t thirsty.

As you sip your lemonade, she will ask you for a favor in exchange for the item you seek, it is never anything big so say yes. If you are in a hurry, apologize and say so, she does not like liars. She will huff a little but ask for a small fee, never more than $5-9, no matter what the item is. Do not be greedy. She does not like greedy people. She will take the money and say that the item is by the front door, thank her and set down the glass of lemonade, even if you are not finished, and leave. The item you seek will be next to the front door in a box. Take the box and leave. Do not open the box until you get home. Ever.

If you have time, say yes to the favor. She will usually ask you to help in her garden, or perhaps help her clean her house a little. She is an old lady after all, she can use the help. This task never lasts longer than an hour or two so fear not. She will offer you another glass of lemonade once the favor is done, accept it.

Once you finish your glass, thank her for her time and she will tell you that the item you seek is by the front door. It is in a basket. Take the basket and leave. When you leave the house, you will not remember what it looked like inside. Do not fear, this is normal. Go home and use your item. You will notice that it seems to work far better than any other of its kind, a plunger will unclog the toilet the first try, a duster will seem to make dust disappear all together. This is normal. Be grateful and remember to thank the item after each use. It will forgive you if you occasionally forget, but forget too much and it will not seem to work as well as it did before.

If you were not able to to the favor, open the box and you will find the item you wanted. Use it. It will not seem to work as well as you hoped, but it is still better and will last longer than a corporate item. Remember to thank it still. Always thank it, if you can.

If you were rude at any point, you will know immediately. The item will seem to make things worse, doing the opposite of its purpose. A duster will seem to multiply the dust, the plunger make the clog worse. Apologize to the item and put it back in the box or the basket. It will disappear. This is normal. Remember to be more polite and bring a gift to the old lady the next time you try. Something small is fine, a batch a homemade cookies for example. Do not buy premade ones, or ready to bake ones. Make them from scratch. She does not like sweets that are not made from scratch.


End file.
